It is characteristic of bevel pinion and bevel gear drives that axial thrust forces are imparted to the pinion shaft during driving of the vehicle in which the drive train is incorporated. Thus, in a typical installation, such as in a farm or industrial vehicle, the pinion shaft extends for-and-aft and the pinion is fixed to the rear end of this shaft and meshes with a bevel gear journaled in the housing on a transverse horizontal axis. If the final drive is for the rear drive axles of the vehicle, the axial thrust forces on the pinion shaft will be forwardly. The prior solution to compensating for or accommodating the forward thrust has involved the use of heavier, stronger and thus more expensive design and materials, it being customary to utilize a so-called combination radial-thrust bearing, usually of the tapered roller bearing type.
According to the present invention, resort is had to lower-cost design because of the use of biasing means interposed between an annular shoulder in the housing and the inner race ring of the bearing. Preferably this means is of the coned-washer type, often referred to as a "Belleville" spring. This spring resists in a yielding fashion the forward thrust load on the main bearing. A low-friction bearing is interposed between the spring and the inner race ring and this bearing is preferably of the needle type, having its needles disposed radially.